FC Twente

Football Club Twente (Dutch pronunciation: [ɛfˈseː ˈtʋɛntə]) is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, playing in the Eredivisie. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions, Sportclub Enschede and Enschedese Boys. They were the holders of the 2011 KNVB Cup and Johan Cruijff Schaal trophies, and were Eredivisie champions in the 2009–10 season; the team has also finished as Eredivisie runner-up thrice, was runner-up in the 1974–75 UEFA Cup, and has won the KNVB Cup three times. Twente's home ground since 1998 is De Grolsch Veste.

History

Foundation and early years

The club was formed in 1965 as a merger of two professional clubs, Sportclub Enschede and the Enschedese Boys. One of such predecessors, SC Enschede, had also won a single Dutch championship in 1926.

The first successes of the club started just after the merger of 1965, under the innovative coach Kees Rijvers. Twente finished third in 1969, fourth in 1970, fifth in 1971, third in 1972 and once again in 1973. The team's key figures were local heroes, such as Epi Drost, Eddy Achterberg, Kick van der Vall and Theo Pahlplatz. Their finest Eredivisie season was 1973–74, in which Twente battled for the Dutch championship with Feyenoord. A head-to-head confrontation in the very last game of the season, in Rotterdam, where Feyenoord prevailed 3–2, sealed Twente's fate in second. Nonetheless, this earned the side a position in the UEFA Cup.

FC Twente (women)

The women's football section of FC Twente was founded in 2007. It has won both the Vrouwen Eredivisie in 2011 and its successor the BeNe League in 2013.

History

FC Twente played its first match 29 August 2007 in the newly founded Eredivisie's inaugural game, losing 2–3 against SC Heerenveen. It was also the first match of the Eredivisie in its inaugural season. The team ended in the bottom half of the table in its first three seasons, finishing 5th of 6 in 2008, 5th of 7 in 2009 and 4th of 6 in 2010. However, it won the national cup in 2008, beating FC Utrecht 3–1 in the final.

In the 2010–11 season Twente clinched its first championship on the last matchday with a 4–1 win over Willem II, ending AZ Alkmaar's three-year hegemony. Along with the title the team qualified for the 2011–12 UEFA Women's Champions League, where it was defeated by Russian champion WFC Rossiyanka in the first round, and the new BeNe Super Cup, which they lost 1–4 against Belgian champion Standard Liège. In the last edition of the Eredivisie, which was merged in 2012 into the BeNe League, Twente couldn't defend the title, ending 14 points behind ADO Den Haag in the 2nd position.

Twente

Twente (English: Twenthe, Dutch: Twente [ˈtʋɛntə], Tweants dialect: Twente / Tweante) is a non-administrative region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel. Twente is most likely named after the Tuihanti or Tvihanti, a Germanic tribe that settled in the area and was mentioned by the Roman historian Tacitus.

The region's borders are defined by the Overijssel region of Salland in the northwest and west (the river Regge roughly defines the western border), the German County of Bentheim in the northeast and east (the river Dinkel roughly defines the eastern border) and the Gelderland region of the Achterhoek in the south.

Twente has approximately 620,000 inhabitants, most of whom live in the three largest cities: Almelo, Hengelo and Enschede, the latter being the main city of the region.

Twente comprises fourteen municipalities: Almelo, Borne, Dinkelland, Enschede, Haaksbergen, Hellendoorn, Hengelo, Hof van Twente, Losser, Oldenzaal, Rijssen-Holten, Tubbergen, Twenterand and Wierden.